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Iridium: The Audacious SatComm Network That (Almost) Couldn't

A bold plan conceived in the late 1980s almost didn't happen. Iridium, a worldwide satellite-based communications system, is a project so large and audacious that its backers misread market realities despite achieving astonishing technical success. This article chronicles the story of the system and the struggles it faced.

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Re: Iridium: The Audacious SatComm Network That (Almost) Couldn't

Re: Iridium: The Audacious SatComm Network That (Almost) Couldn't

01/13/2017 10:18 AM

I worked for a company that used Iridium cell phone systems for a short while.

Damn things were the near polar opposite of a normal cell phone. Most anywhere a normal phone worked they didn't making them largely useless unless you wanted to stand out in a parking lot on a clear day every time you had to make a call.

Indoors, in a vehicle, under a large tree, under a power line, heavy cloud cover or hard rain no good. Might work or might not or maybe work just enough to make you hate them.

Re: Iridium: The Audacious SatComm Network That (Almost) Couldn't

Re: Iridium: The Audacious SatComm Network That (Almost) Couldn't

01/13/2017 3:02 PM

In reality the system doesn't hand off calls very well when the one satellite that you are connected to starts to 'exit' the sky. My experience with Iridium was a lot of dropped calls, even being in an open area with very few trees. Very few . . . .

Given the excellent coverage, it is a useful tool for getting the message out when the excrement contacts the moving blades . . . but if you are trying to carry on a long, involved conversation, it can be maddening.

Re: Iridium: The Audacious SatComm Network That (Almost) Couldn't

01/13/2017 3:26 PM

That's what I thought about it as well. That and the phones we used didn't handle our climate in the winter well either. 2 - 5 minutes out of an inner pocket and they shut down due to false 'low battery' issues from getting too cold as well.

Re: Iridium: The Audacious SatComm Network That (Almost) Couldn't

01/13/2017 5:06 PM

They could just use better quality batteries with monitoring systems that actually work below freezing point too. I doubt it would cost them an extra $1 or to add to a phone they sell for several hundred dollars. Other manufactures have no problems with cold weather operation so it obviously a doable engineering feat.